Egypt

Wednesday, 4 August On our last day we went to the Citadel in the morning. Right at the entrance an Egyptian film team was shooting a movie, a man and a woman in the scene. Cairo is the Hollywood of the Arab world and therefore it is likely to run into a film crew. The Citadel was the seat of the government until mid-19th century. When we were leaving we bumped into a familiar face at the entrance. Take a guess! Of course, Saeko. From there we went to the famous Al Azhar Mosque built in 970, a symbol of Islamic Cairo and with its adjoining Al Azhar University once the institution in the Islamic world to study the Sunni theology. To this day the mosque has a status higher than many other Islamic authorities and is often consulted for religious judgments and fatwas throughout the Islamic world. My plan to go to dinner to Zamalek failed due to fatigue so we ended up having dinner close by and watch TV in the hostel. Last thoughts: Looking back I think I had a much better time than I thought while traveling through Egypt. During my stay there it was difficult to take things in with all the hustle and bustle around you. It's hard to reflect when you are constantly bombarded and when you are always on guard. Only after my visit I was capable to sort everything in my head and to think for a minute. Then you see how it really was. Apart from all the taxi drivers and street venders Egyptians were extremely helpful, very friendly, open and talkative. They have a great humor and are very curious about you and your life. We enjoyed our time there and had a lot of laughs there.